The Role of the Coach-Created Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climates in Athlete Engagement Among Adolescent Athletes

Vollständiger Abstract

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The purpose of this study was to examine the role of coach-created empowering and disempowering motivational climates in athlete engagement among adolescent athletes. A total of 88 female ( M age = 14.67, SD = 1.98) and 184 male ( M age = 14.57, SD = 1.94) adolescent athletes from various sports participated. Participants completed the Personal Information Form, the Athlete Engagement Questionnaire, and the Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire-Coach. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine whether motivational climates predicted athlete engagement. Results indicated that coach-created empowering motivational climate was the only significant predictor of confidence (β = 0.41, p < .001), dedication (β = 0.45, p < .001), vigor (β = 0.50, p < .001), and enthusiasm (β = 0.46, p < .001). Disempowering motivational climate did not significantly predict athlete engagement. Additionally, task-oriented climate, a subdimension of empowering climate, positively predicted confidence, dedication, and vigor (β = 0.32, p < .001; β = 0.18, p < .001; β = 0.23, p < .001, respectively), while autonomy-supportive and socially supportive climates predicted only enthusiasm (β = 0.23, p < .01; β = 0.18, p < .05). These findings suggest that empowering motivational climates positively contributed to athlete engagement, a factor critical to continued sports participation in adolescence. Therefore, training programs for coaches working with youth should emphasize creating empowering environments to enhance engagement and foster long-term involvement in sports.